


Aaron Cross

by cynatnite



Series: The Barton Initiative [7]
Category: Mission: Impossible (Movies), S.W.A.T. (2003), The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Bourne Legacy (2012), The Hurt Locker (2008), Wind River (2017)
Genre: Aaron is the smart one, Angst, Marta stands by him, Nightmares
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-14
Updated: 2018-07-14
Packaged: 2019-06-10 10:07:29
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15289188
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cynatnite/pseuds/cynatnite
Summary: This time it's Aaron who does the meeting, but not all goes as planned. The Barton Initiative is off to a rocky start.





	Aaron Cross

_It’s cold. He curls up tight, holding his arms together and knees into his gut, but the icy feeling won’t go away. It’s hard, empty and lonely. The cries in the background hurts his ears so much. He misses the cradling warmth of darkness, closeness and gentleness. The screams wound his heart and he whimpers needing to give comfort by taking them back to the opaque tenderness where only peace and love exist. He sobs from the agony of life._

“Aaron! Aaron! Wake up!”

When Aaron opens his eyes, Marta is there cupping his wet cheek. He reaches for her and realizes he’s curled into himself. Marta helps him sit up on the bed and Aaron takes a deep breath.

“Sorry,” he says lowering his head.

“It’s okay.” She kisses him. “I’ll get you some water.”

Chills run through Aaron when she disappears. The nightmares have never really gone away. Weeks would go by without one. The last one had been nearly two weeks ago. He needed to stop finding security in that.

Marta brings the water. It’s too cold and he finishes off the glass anyway.

“Do you want to stay up for a while?”

“No, I’m okay,” Aaron assures her. He gets back into bed and pulls Marta close to him.

“I love you.”

“Love you, too.”

He drops a kiss on the top of her head. As she sleeps, Aaron doesn’t. The sun rises and he slips from the bed without waking Marta.

His run is a long one. It takes him from their small dwelling on the edge of the city to the shoreline.

The decision to settle in Jakarta was easy. It was large enough to get lost in with just enough tourists to get mistaken as one. Marta had eased into much easier than he had in the beginning.

She’d found herself in the position of delivering a baby in their first week. Seeing the exhilaration on her face made him love her even more. Marta was so excited to be a real doctor again, as she calls it.

It had its bad days. Poverty was abject and overwhelming. Aaron had reminded her more than once they can’t save everyone. Abandoned children living on the street was common and Aaron began the habit of allocating a small portion of their money on a monthly basis to an orphanage not far.

People paid what they could to Marta for what she could offer them. Aaron helped supplement the income by fixing bicycles and cars. That he could do easily enough and it paid more than working on a fishing boat.

They got by which is about as much as anyone in this would could ask for. Despite all that they didn’t have, Aaron loved Marta and he wanted to give her the world. He just couldn’t give her the one thing she yearned for above all else. The conversations were getting harder and harder these days.

It came up at dinner that evening.

“She just bled out,” Marta said as she dished out the rice on Aaron’s plate. “The placenta likely abrupted and I had no way of stopping the bleeding. It was a newborn girl and the grandmother was too old to take care of a baby. She gave her to me.”

Aaron kept quiet. He knew Marta had to get it out of her system by talking.

“I took thirty dollars and the baby to the orphanage. She’s cute with a headful of hair. Maybe…”

He looked up when she stopped. Marta was gazing at her plate.

“I hate this fucking country sometimes. They want boys. Always boys.”

Reaching for her hand, Aaron took it in his. “I’m sorry.”

“I could go get her,” Marta said. Her pleading eyes locked with his and it hurt seeing them. “We could take care of her, teach her to read and take care of herself.”

“Doc, you know we can’t,” Aaron tried.

“I know why we can’t make a baby. I know that,” Marta repeated. “It’s just that here we are and we always have plenty of food. This place is small, but there’s room for a baby…one child, Aaron!”

“We can’t, Marta!” Aaron closed his eyes. He didn’t mean to yell. “It has to be this way. We never know if they’ll somehow find us or even just accidently get on a camera. If we have to pick up and run, we could never protect a child or even a baby. You know that.”

Marta slammed her hands on the table and jerked out of her chair.

“I can’t do this, Aaron! I can’t live like this anymore…never knowing one day to the next! We have to keep a go-bag packed next to the bed in case we have to run off in the middle of the damn night!”

He tried to take her in his arms, but she wasn’t having it. Marta pushed him away.

“I want a life again, Aaron,” Marta beseeched him. “I want to take you to my sister’s and I want children. I want to cry the first day our child has to go to kindergarten, I want soccer games and I want us together in the world, living our lives unafraid and not hiding away.”

“I’m sorry I can’t give you that,” Aaron whispered.

That night, Aaron laid in bed staring at the ceiling and Marta had her back to him.

 

~*~

 

Saturdays they spent together. Marta did their laundry and Aaron worked on the leak under the sink. He never went to their landlord for those things. Be small, he always said. That meant taking care of everything themselves.

The small TV on the broken dresser in the living room blared in the background as they worked. He paid little attention to the news as it made its latest report on world happenings. He glanced over at Iron Man flying across the sky. The machine descended and flew into Stark Tower.

Aaron paused and slowly walked to the TV not hearing the reporter on the ground in front of the building. His eyes were on Stark Tower where fans hopeful for an Avenger siting gathered. Then it hit him. He knew what to do. All of it, from beginning to end.

“We’ll go there,” Aaron said pointing to the TV.

“What?” Marta looked up from the laundry basket.

“Stark Tower. That’s how we’ll do it.”

“Aaron,” Marta smiled and shook her head.

He grabbed her hand and took them to their bedroom. Aaron opened up the go-bag and pulled out a folded magazine insert. He smoothed out for Marta to see.

“This came out after the attack on Manhattan,” Aaron explained. “It’s the only picture I’ve ever found.”

Marta leaned forward. Her eyes went to Hawkeye with bow and arrow aimed at a Chitauri during the fight.

“The resemblance. You must be related. Do you think he’ll help?”

“We’re probably not, but I’ve got another idea.”

“Aaron, that strong of a likeness without blood relation is practically unheard of.”

“It doesn’t matter. All he’ll see is someone coming out of the woodwork to get something out of him. Probably happens all the time. No, we’re going to Stark Tower and we’ll get inside without him.”

“How?”

“Stark Tower has an AI interface. We can use it to find Byer and maybe get our names cleared. Get that life you want so much.”

“As long as it’s with you.”

“We’re going to do this.” Aaron’s kiss was a promise.

 

~*~

 

Aaron barely had a sightline to Stark Tower from his position. He only saw a sliver of the building, but this was the best way to stay out of sight of the cameras stationed around the skyscraper. His only way to see the inside was through the burner phone he’d bought that was connected to Marta’s glasses via radio signal. Wi-Fi networks were too vulnerable in this spot.

He watched as she was led along with a crowd by a tour guide. Aaron hoped the expensive ticket would get him what he needed if the YouTube videos had been accurate.

When a passerby paused, Clint pulled the cap down lower and adjusted his sunglasses. It would do no good to get caught this early. He focused back to the phone. The tour guide droned on while Aaron watched.

“Come on, babe. Be the tourist I know you are,” Aaron told her through the mic.

The camera aimed at a panel and he watched Marta lean in for a closer look. There wasn’t much to make out, but hopefully a filter would do the trick. Aaron snapped a pic.

“ _Ma’am, please stay with the group. Touching the panel would be a security violation_ ,” a guard gently warned.

“ _Sorry_ ,” Marta said. “ _Just a nosy tourist_.”

“ _It’s okay. If you’ll catch up, please_.”

“ _Oh, of course_.”

“Nice job, sweetheart,” Aaron said.

He saw her pass a mirrored wall. Marta wore a blonde wig and glasses. She stuck her tongue out as she walked by. Aaron chuckled. The woman he loved was brave and strong.

Then the tour guide introduced the group to Jarvis and pointed to a screen on the wall. Aaron straightened and snapped a few pictures as it went through the presentation. Then he saw the panel below lighting up.

“Doc, lower your head just a bit. I need to see what’s flashing there.”

Marta moved two steps closer and adjusted her gaze.

“Perfect.”

More questions were asked and answered after the presentation with some interesting tidbits about the Avengers, but Aaron had what he needed. Marta just had to get through the rest of it. Two hours later they were back at their Newark hotel room near the airport.

Aaron connected what he had to the laptop and started reading through it.

“How does this help you?” Marta asked. “There wasn’t much information on the screen or under the panels that I could see.”

“For one thing, I got a look at Jarvis’ basic interface. I can write a redundant program using his code. It’ll be simple enough that it’ll just write it off as miscellaneous. Once I’m in, I’ll be able to find Byer’s server and test its security.” Aaron started typing and then stopped. “I can get in and hopefully get a look at his itinerary.”

“Aaron, you said he’s too smart for normal surveillance.”

“Yeah, but he always checks in through his server. It’s the only thing he trusts. I only know about it because I remembered him using it to retrieve messages on other ops when we were in Somalia. He’s paranoid as shit, but he’s cocky, too. Byer thinks he’s too smart for anyone to get the drop on him.”

“I hope you’re right,” Mara said as she gazed at him in a new light.

Aaron refused to question it right now. “You ready for tomorrow?”

“Yes. I know where to watch. Just be close by.”

“I will.” Aaron promised. He went back to work.

 

~*~

 

It took a week for Aaron and Marta to set the plan into motion. Aaron found a spot three blocks from Stark Tower and Marta used various disguises as she monitored the building.

The day came and Marta spotted the motorcycle leaving the building.

“He’s leaving now.”

Aaron took his position in the alley. He glanced at his phone and the public cam showed the driver headed exactly where he expected.

“You on your way?” Aaron asked.

“I’ll be there soon.”

As soon as Aaron saw the motorcyclist coming down the alley, he counted to ten and then stepped out. The driver’s eyes widened at seeing him and he braked. Aaron held up the gun and fired.

The dart landed perfectly. Aaron rushed over to grab him before he hit the ground. The running motorcycle landed on the cement. As he dragged the unconscious driver towards the empty garage, he saw Marta running towards.

Aaron got him into the janitor’s closet and he stripped the man of his jacket. Marta came inside.

“The bike?”

“Parked close by.” She was breathing hard from the run. “His jeans are different than yours.”

Marta helped him finish undressing their sleeping prisoner. Once it was done, Aaron put zip ties on his hands and feet. He hopped to his feet and began changing clothes. Aaron made sure he retrieved his belt and then he stuck the tablet at his back and pulled the shirt over it.

“Twenty minutes?” Aaron asked.

“I believe so unless he has a high tolerance for sedatives. Make it fast.”

Aaron gave her a hard kiss and then was out the door. Then he remembered. Going back inside, a grinning Marta was holding up the cellphone. Aaron gave her a peck on the cheek before leaving again. He got on the motorcycle and sped back to Stark Tower. By the time he pulled into the garage, his respirations and heart rate were back to normal.

The trick to infiltration was to belong. The more you believed it, the easier it was to be at the place you were meant to be. Aaron felt right at home as he headed to the elevator.

As expected, the doors slid open and he stepped inside. Marta knew to wait until he contacted her. He wouldn’t chance Jarvis being able to detect it. Jesus, they had an open comm, he thought with a sigh.

“ _Mr. Barton, are you not due to meet with Agent Romanov for lunch_?”

“Cancelled,” Aaron responded. “Is anyone home?”

“ _Agent Coulson is not due to return until late this evening. I believe you said lasagna was on the menu_.”

“Sure,” Aaron casually responded. “Just didn’t want any surprise guests.”

“ _Of course_.”

The elevator doors slid open to Clint Barton’s apartment and Aaron resisted the urge to whistle at the size of the place. He moved inside as if it was his own home.

“Secure mode, Jarvis.”

“ _Yes, Mr. Barton_.”

Aaron headed to a panel and took out the tablet. He connected them and began his work.

“ _Mr. Barton, may I be of assistance_?”

“No, that’s alright Jarvis. I’ve got this.”

“ _I was not aware you were capable of software design_.”

“Been watching Stark long enough that I picked up a few things…and YouTube.”

“ _I see you are attempting to connect with an outside server_.”

“Intel, Jarvis. You understand, right?”

“ _Yes, Mr. Barton_.”

Aaron got connected to the server. Hacking it took longer than he liked, but copying an advanced malware program from Jarvis’ system solved the problem quickly enough. He watched the status bar download the information trying not to betray the impatience running through him.

It had just hit one hundred percent when Jarvis spoke.

“ _A call from Agent Romanov indicates you are not who you appear to be_ ,” Jarvis said.

After yanking the USB, Aaron shoved the tablet inside his shirt. He went to the elevator and it refused to open.

“Fuck.” He headed for the door leading to the stairs. Peering down at the long drop, Aaron knew he’d never make it before security got to him.

“ _Agent Romanov will intercept you before you exit the building_ ,” Jarvis announced. “ _I have taken the liberty to alert security as well_.”

“Right,” Aaron muttered. He slid the belt around his jeans off and snapped open the buckle. After extracting the thin heavy-duty wire, he tied it off on the rail, looped the end of the belt around his hand and took a deep breath. “Thirty fucking stories of drop.”

“ _Your perceived escape is inadvisable, sir. The likelihood your weight will carry you to the bottom uninjured is approximately 354,000 to one_.”

Aaron grinned a little. “Never tell me the odds.”

Then he jumped.

The drop was long and fast. Aaron sped downward as security guards came through the doors of the stairwell. They made grabs for him, but were unable to reach him. Looking down, Aaron saw three guards waiting at the bottom.

His body jerked when the line ran out well above the men waiting for him. Then it snapped. Aaron twisted so the guards would break his fall. He landed in the pile of bodies and despite the pain, he punched and kicked until they were unconscious.

Two more waited at the open exit. Idiots, Aaron thought.

He flung the cellphone like a weapon which got one right between the eyes. After the man dropped, Aaron went after the other and had him down inside of ten seconds.

He sprinted from the building to across the street. They had only seconds.

“ _Aaron, his pulse and respirations are picking up_ ,” Marta said in his ear. “ _He’ll be waking up soon_.”

“You said twenty minutes!” Aaron ground out as he narrowly escaped a car that almost hit him.

“ _And I told you high tolerance_!” Marta yelled in his ear. “ _You heard me say it_!”

“Meet me at that bagel shop you liked.” Aaron turned a corner and slowed down to blend in with the crowds. “Tourist-like.”

“ _The wig is at the hotel_.”

“Fine, New York-like,” Aaron muttered. He heard something in his ear piece. “Doc, what are you doing?”

“ _I’m not leaving him tied up_ ,” Marta retorted.

“Jesus.” Aaron resisted doing a facepalm. “Five minutes.”

It took over an hour to get back to the hotel and as Marta packed their things, Aaron sat on the bed and cracked open the back of the laptop.

“What are you doing?”

“We have to know what we’ve got. I’m going to physically remove the Bluetooth and Wi-Fi on this thing just in case Jarvis implanted a tracking program.”

“It can do that?”

“It’s a damn Einstein and then some.” Using a small screwdriver, Aaron popped out the tiny components and then turned on the laptop. He plugged the tablet into it and transferred the data.

“Will anyone know what you were after?”

“I don’t think so. I covered my tracks using some malware to corrupt Byer’s server.”

As Marta finished packing, Aaron sighed at what he saw on the screen.

“What is it?”

“Fucking Reno,” Aaron muttered. He slammed the laptop closed.

“Reno?”

“Byer’s going to Reno. He’ll be there in two days.”

“Why is he going to Reno?” Marta couldn’t hide the alarm in her voice.

“I don’t know. The state home was shuttered over ten years ago.” He got to his feet and grabbed the backpack. “We’ll have to take turns driving if we’re going to beat him there.”

“Aaron, you don’t even know if that’s where Byer is going?” Marta watched as Aaron took out a wad of cash and counted some out before putting the bulk of it back inside. “We should talk about this.”

“It’s where he’s going to be and so are we.” Aaron zipped up the pack and turned towards her.

“You said he’s smart. What if this is some kind of trap, Aaron, and he’s waiting for you?”

“Then it’s an opportunity,” Aaron replied.

“He could have one of those people like in Manilla to come after us, to kill you,” Marta pressed. “Byer may not even be there at all.”

“I’ll find another way to get you cleared if this goes to hell, Doc. I promise.”

Seeing that Aaron wasn’t going to be deterred, Marta quietly turned away and finished packing. Aaron left and thirty minutes later returned with a car, then left Newark behind.

 

~*~

 

Clint, Cory, William, James, and Brian watched the screen as Jarvis replayed the events less than an hour earlier. Phil, Natasha and Jim Street stood off the side observing their reactions and seeing the last one who was thought to be dead making an insane jump from the 30th floor stairwell. It ended with his drop onto the security guards, the quick fight, a flung cellphone knocking the one in the doorway before the last guard was quickly dropped. Jarvis froze the video before the man flew out of the open door.

“He most certainly isn’t the dumb one of the group,” Cory said with a wry voice.

“That title belongs to James since the idiot won’t stop smoking,” Brian jeered.

James just flipped him off with a smirk and grinned when Jim came over with a playful shove.

“Jarvis, what did he get?” Phil asked.

“The server he infiltrated belongs to one Colonel Eric Byer,” Jarvis answered.

“What the hell.” Brian straightened and glanced at William. “Do you know that guy?”

“Not personally,” Will answered. “He’s head of NRAG and oversaw several CIA sanctioned programs.”

“What sort of programs?” Phil had an idea where this was headed.

“Treadstone, Black Briar, Outcome and LARX,” William answered. “They were designed to improve operative skills.”

“Just like what we saw Kitsom doing?” Brian accused. “They fucked with him, didn’t they?”

“He served his country,” James muttered and then turned a hard glare at William. “And you people fucked him over.”

“This is not us!” William strongly replied. “We don’t take soldiers off the battlefield and turn them into fucking weapons!”

“That’s enough,” Clint calmly told the room. “We need more information in order to find him. Will, you’ll need to get back to DC and dig up what you can on Byer, his movements and these programs. We need to know where Kitsom fits into it and why he came here.”

“Fine,” William answered. “I’ve got a friend who’s dug into the CIA databanks before. He’d love a second shot at doing it again.”

“Wait a minute,” Phil said moving forward. “Jarvis, can you narrow down exactly what he was looking for in Byer’s server?”

“ _It will take some time, Agent Coulson. A destructive malware program has hindered my search. Using deductive reasoning as it were will aid in narrowing down the objective_.”

“Phil,” Natasha said. “Doesn’t past experience say organizations like SHIELD and the CIA are always prepared for the improbable?”

“She’s right,” Phil agreed. “We can’t leave anything to chance.”

“Well,” William sighed. “It’s unlikely they’ll be prepared for the impossible.”

A few smiles were exchanged.  

“Guys.” Skye stepped out of the elevator and looked to each one unsure of where to start.

“What is it, Skye?” Clint asked.

“I kinda overheard your conversation and so I played stupid hacker with the CIA.”

“What are you talking about, girl?” Cory liked her. She reminded him of his Emily at times, a bit too smart for her own good.  

“It was just a brief walk through their least protected archives over the last few years.” Phil’s hard glare made Skye uneasy. “Don’t worry. I laid a trail to an old boyfriend I really hate. A real jerk, if you ask me and don’t tell me he doesn’t deserve a little CIA up his ass.”

“Skye!” Phil with a raised voice.

“Right.” Skye came forward and set her laptop on a table. “Jarvis, could you play that video I uncovered?”

No one could breathe at the sight of Kenneth Kitsom, wearing bandages, bruised and bloody sitting in a wheelchair. He was being asked questions and his answers were slow, unsure and shy.

At the end he asks, “ _If I pass, can I stay here_?”

“ _Do you want to stay here_?”

“Shut it off, Skye.” Clint rubbed his eyes trying to hide the pain and anger he felt. The screen froze at the broken man’s face with tears in the corners of his bruised eyes.

 

“Was there anything else?” James softly asked.

“I found it under a dated file named Outcome. The video itself was under another filename dated after he supposedly died. Aaron Cross. Everything else was deleted and irretrievable. I didn’t chance a file recovery.”

“Good thing,” Will told her. “It would’ve led them straight here.”

Brian walked to the screen, gazed at the face of his injured brother. He turned to Clint.

“What’s next?”

“We bring him home.”


End file.
